Newtown High student speaks out about shooting

A Newtown High School student is opening up about what it has been like coping since the shooting inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday.

Kyle Degenhardt said the first day back to school since the tragedy was difficult Tuesday.

"It's been like a roller coaster," he said. "Some days, I'll wake up and I'll feel fine. Then halfway through the day, it'll hit me and I just want to sit. And sometimes just even cry."

Adam Lanza had two pistols and a military-style rifle when he entered Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning, and in just a matter of minutes, he fired multiple rounds, killing 20 children and six adults. Before the school shooting, he shot his mother four times and eventually turned the gun on himself.

But , who is a high school senior, said the school had an assembly to explain the plan for moving forward.

"We had class, but it was a very laid back class," he said. "There were places we could go if we just wanted to get back and talk to somebody, so that was good."

Degenhardt said counselors are on hand at any time during the school day. He said he feels being together with friends in school makes it a bit easier.

"I do want normalcy, and I do want some sort of routine because I think that's the only way things are going to get back to some way they used to be," Degenhardt said. "Nothing is ever going to be the same, though."

Degenhardt attended Sandy Hook Elementary School and is also a volunteer firefighter at the Sandy Hook Fire Department. He was at the firehouse on Friday, with parents who just lost their children and said he just tried to lend an extra hand.

"Anything I could possibly do to help out," he said. "I mean running around, doing traffic, helping the families out. So whatever I could."

The night of the shooting, Degenhardt said a woman gave him a ribbon, which is something he doesn't plan on taking off anytime soon.

"I just feel like it's something that always needs to be with me," Degenhardt said. "I feel like someone needs to do something even as little as wearing a ribbon for the 20 students we lost. So I feel like, you know, I want to try to keep them alive and around just as best as we can."

Just as countless people continue to bring flowers and candles to the Sandy Hook Elementary memorial as a sign the victims will be never be forgotten, Degenhardt said his ribbon will always keep all of them alive in his heart.